Teaching Anxiety amongst Hong Kong and Shanghai In-Service Teachers: The Impact of Trait Anxiety and Self-Esteem

One hundred and thirty-eight Hong Kong and 195 Shanghai in-service teachers participated in this study. Three different scales were used namely the trait anxiety scale, the self-esteem scale and the teaching anxiety scale. Each scale was translated from English into Chinese. This study aims to compare the teaching anxiety level of in-service teachers in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and from a psychological perspective, it also aims to find out if trait anxiety and self-esteem can predict teaching anxiety. Overall, the study found that Hong Kong in-service teachers had higher teaching anxiety than their Shanghai counterparts. In addition, it was found that teaching anxiety was predicted by both trait anxiety and self-esteem as assumed. Teaching anxiety has been found to have many negative effects on both students and teachers. Thus, based on results from the questionnaires, factors that may reduce teaching anxiety of Hong Kong in-service teachers were suggested by interviewing 10 Hong Kong in-service teachers who also participated in the first part of the study, and their suggestions could be applied to professional developmental courses in reducing teaching anxiety for in-service teachers.